Let It Snow(92)

He’d asked if he could see her when he got off of his shift. She’d told him she was staying with her grandma and she’d have to ask. When he’d found out who her Gran was, he’d just winked at her and told her to tell Adeline he’d see them for dinner. She’d been so tongue tied she’d just nodded.

He’d shown up at six o’clock sharp that night and the rest was history.

“May I have this dance?” Tessa sat up straight at the sound of the familiar voice in her ear. She turned to see Jake smiling down at her. Suddenly, the realization of the song that was now playing swept over her. Peter Cetera’s ‘Glory of Love.’

And just like it had all those years ago in the Pack ‘N’ Pay, the rest of the world disappeared and there was just Jake. “Yes,” she answered, smiling from ear to ear.

Jake led her out to the dance floor and enfolded her in his arms. “I’m sorry for this morning,” Jake said, deep regret tingeing his voice.

Tessa looked up at him in surprise. It took her a moment to catch up with the conversation, and then she let out a little laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Jake asked, a small frown of puzzlement furling his brow.

Tessa shook her head. “Nothing,” she explained with a smile. “It’s just that, for a minute, I had actually forgotten about our fight this morning. I was remembering when we met.”

“That was the best day of my life,” Jake said a small smile tilting his lips.

At his words, Tessa’s pulse picked up speed. Relief and hope filled her. Jake didn’t seem mad at all anymore, and he’d even apologized. Maybe they could talk here after all. “Thank you, Jake. And I’m sorry too. I’ve been wanting to talk to you all day—”

A sharp buzzing sound came from Jake’s pocket, interrupting their dance. Jake pulled his phone out, a disappointed look crossing his face. He exchanged a few words with the person on the other end before replacing the phone in his pocket and explaining with regret, “I have to go in and cover a shift. Now. There’s nobody else. This damn flu that’s going around.”

Tessa tried not to let the disappointment show in her eyes.

Jake took her hands in his. “Just promise me one thing. Promise me that you won’t leave town without saying goodbye to me first,” he said earnestly, looking into her eyes.

Tessa was taken aback. Why would he ask her to promise that? But before she had a chance to ask, his phone buzzed again and he cursed under his breath.

“I have to go,” Jake said as he was already moving away from her. “Just promise me.”

“I promise,” Tessa agreed, still not understanding why he would ask that.

As she watched him walk out the door of the reception hall, she knew that it would be a few days before he’d be off. She hated knowing that she couldn’t clear the air with him before that, but trying to look at the bright side of things, she told herself it had been thirteen years. What would a few more days hurt?





Chapter Thirty




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Tessa leaned her elbows on the kitchen island, trying to concentrate on editing Amy’s wedding pictures. She wanted to do the best job she possibly could for her. She’d weeded out the duds and only had a few more that she needed to crop and color correct for the slideshow.

She hadn’t slept at all last night after the wedding. Part of the reason was that she wanted to get the slideshow uploaded before Amy and Matt left for their honeymoon tomorrow morning. But the main reason was because she kept replaying everything that had happened the last few weeks in her head. Over and over again.

A few things more than others. Of course every time Jake had touched her, kissed her, and made love to her was getting a lot of review time.

But also the almost cryptic words Jake had spoken to her before he left the wedding last night, kept haunting her as well. Why would he ask her to promise him to say goodbye before she left town?

Did he think that she was just going to leave, forget about Gran’s house, just because of the fight they’d had? Did he think that she was the same scared seventeen-year-old who had left the hospital without telling him?

There were so many questions flooding Tessa’s mind that she knew what she had to do. She needed to talk to Jake. Now.

Wait. Maybe the mature thing to do would be to wait until he was off on Wednesday, make him a nice dinner, and discuss all of the questions that were on her mind.

Nah. Tessa grabbed her keys and purse off of the counter and headed out the door. Maturity was overrated.

Thirteen years was long enough to wait. She couldn’t wait another second to find out if she and Jake had a real chance, a real shot at this.